Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Hamachi & Trend Micro

Bert & Lurker,
Hi guys. I address this to you two because I know Bert uses Trend Micro for his Internet Security and Lurker you are a computer guru type. I have been thinking about giving LogMeIn Hamachi a try so as to get fairly easy to use P2P VPN stuff set-up between our main machine and a few remote computers like our laptops at home, so as to be able to securely use AC and a to be determined PM program from home.

But it seems that each internet security package comes with its own baggage and Trend products are certainly on the list. So I was wondering what if anything either of you (or anyone else for that matter) might know about any of this before I leaped. Granted they have a free version so it wouldn't be all that bad, but since we have net at the office we have not had access from home in a number of years. It saves a few bucks and keeps me from totally wasting all my time with the rest of you wonderful folks... lol. So before this experiment can take effect I will need to have Verizon/Fios or Time Warner pay us a visit and start paying them once again for their services. So I would like to get most of the basics out of the way before I do.

None the less, I think it was Wayne or some other nice soul who originally turned me on the Hamachi as an easy VPN solution long ago. So thanks but what's the deal with these guys and commercial firewalls and protection packages??? Any informative info would certainly be apperciated. Thanks much...
Paul

Well, unfortunately I cannot take credit for Hamachi. But now that it has been mentioned I will look into it. Maybe its something I can use.

I just sprung for LogMeIn Pro so I could do file transfers from home. I really like the remote control function. It is fast, too, but I do have DSL over the phone line. I know it is encrypted, but I couldn't tell you the specifics.

They are having a special: 5 PC's of LogMeIn Pro for $19.75/month.

https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?lang=en

What all are you wanting to accomplish with it, Paul?

Paul-

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, so I'll just shotgun a response.

Both ends of the "VPN" will need an internet connection.

The "server" end will need a static, public IP address.

The more symmetrical (up speed = down speed) your internet connection (on both ends), the better your remote experience will be. I would think a minimum of 500 k bits/second would be okay for one session, but that really depends on stuff I can't possibly know right now.

The "server" itself will likely NOT be put right on the internet, but will likely be behind a firewall/router device.

Any firewall (software or hardware) worth a used cotton swab will allow the user to modify it in such a way as to allow whatever is behind that firewall to be accessible from the internet. Most firewall/router devices do this in the form of 'port forwarding' through its self to a target computer or target service on a target computer.

A firewall is not equal to an antivirus software tool.

I've only read the first page of LogMeIn (after a google search) -- I know very little about it -- but it seems to claim to be able to somehow work around whatever firewall you already have in place with no modifications to any firewall software/device. I dunno. Try it for free! They keep that crap going and I won't have a job ;-)

Internet security is a Big Deal nowadays. If someone can disect TCP/IP packets and ethernet frames and can nimbly manipulate said data at a very low level, that person is worth a lot of money. The expensive firewall devices are his tool box. These devices easily block, track, log, manage, manipulate, etc., traffic which flows both ways. Contrast this with your WalMart Netgear/D-Link/Linksys which hardly does any of that, and then in only one direction.

Now... lurker has gotten the bug. Hurts to swallow, ears are irritated, I feel achey, sinus/nose feels a bit inflamed ... I've dodged it for a year now. NyQuil, my bottle, my friend, here I come.

---

other option would be to use VPN routers(ther cost about $120) at work and setup access on them. You would have hardware VPN solution which is 100 times better than software VPN access like Himachi.

I agree they are difficult to setup if you dont know Networking 101, but google is your friend.

Not sure why Trend Micro would cause any problems with connectivity unless you used their firewall. Simply don't use it. For the record, to compare apples and oranges, I used Trend Micro's Client Server Messaging Security for SMB. I am not bragging, but the server software runs around $650, so it is hard to compare.

Paul, there are many solutions for your problem, the cheapest of which would be RDP (Remote Desktop). But, that's much easier if one end is static. Static does cost money monthly. VPNs be done with dynamic end points, but they are usually done with one side having a static IP. VPNs are a nice way for two offices to have a fairly constant connection, but you will still need software such as Citrix to be able to access the desktop.


I have said this before at least five times, and I couldn't agree with Brian more. I just don't understand why you don't use LogMeIn (the free version). It can be set up in under five minutes, and it will do everything you want it to do.

hth

I love LogMeIn. We had sort of an unexpected ice/snow storm here yesterday and today, making it impossible for me to get up and out of my long gravel drive (almost broke my neck trying to get to the garage so I skated back to the house). I connected to my desktop computer at work via LogMeIn, pullled up my scheduling program and called all the patients with appointments today and told them to stay home. I handled all of their "can't wait" problems over the phone with their AC charts pulled up in front of me. I even faxed scripts by 'printing' to my fax machine at work. By me doing this work from home, I also did not have to pay an employee to go to the office to do it for me. What else would I have done all day anyway? The donkeys refused to come out of their barn to play with me. I use the free version and have not had any issues at all with it. I do not have a static IP either at work or at home (remember, I am cheap).

Leslie

Hi Guys,
Leslie, I'll do the skating around here, OK? Hope all is OK for one and all with the Ice and other stuff.
OK enough with the friendly banter. Bert I do have a static here at the office so that is not really an issue. Years ago when we opened my first "guru" told me to make sure I got a static IP and so I did and that is the way our account has stayed.

But I was trying to avoid the remote desktop stuff only because I may really have the need to have more than one client get into the system at once. I didn't want to have Nancy or I trying to use the system from home while at the same time some contracted billing person was trying to access it too. Having to share the access could get old and reduce efficencies real fast.

"Hi Paul can I get some billing done?" "No sorry Nancy is charting right now and I'm waiting to get on so I can do my homework." Get the picture? So I just figured something that was relatively fast, secure and allowed mutliple users at the same time was the way to go. So someone here on the board suggested Hamachi (from LogMeIn) as a simplier solution. It just seems that most of the commercially available internet security packages are having some issues, even though Logmein claims a success rate of 95% for direct P2P tunnel connection (they are not even in the middle with their servers this means. Once they get you "bootstrapped" together they drop out of the picture and the rest of the session is completely private. Sounded pretty good to me.

But when I went to the Hamachi user board (what do those stupid idiots at user boards know anyway, right? ) there seemed to be many issues with Norton, with TrendMicro (our product right now, although Kerpinski has caught my eys as a great alternative) and a few others too. It was supposed to set most if not all of the stuff up for you with little or no input, but you know how PC's and their OS's and other issues are, Nothing ever seems to be that simple.

So I was just trying to remember who dropped the Hamachi idea on me, see what their experience has been with it and see who had any good ideas on the matter. Thanks much for the group replies
Paul

Paul,

I knew you would jump in on my skating comment
Don't worry. This Southern Indiana gal hasn't had a pair of skates on since she was about 10. I remember wanting to wear my hair like Dorothy Hamil at one time but that is about as close to the ice as I cared to get.

Leslie

I've been using hamachi and cobian backup to remotely backup my servers in the two offices for about 6 months, it works well.

For some reason, I never tried to directly connect AC until yesterday.

I must admit I was using a slower machine, but AC seemed to take a long time to load and connect as well as open charts, although it did work.

I will play with it more and give a report. I would like to try with a machine faster than 1K and see if I have better results.

The 1K machine works fine on a wired Cat 5 network. I suspect it (hamachi) will be too slow to be very practical.

I use Log Me In a lot between the two offices. I have 5 pro subscriptions but have the other computers with free prescriptions to do background tech stuff.

Wendell,
Thanks for your feedback. What do you mean as to the machine is 1K and slow? What part is 1K that is slowing things down? We would be doing it over cable and or FIOS high speed, so I was hoping it would be sort of reasonable in speed.

Can the logmein allow more than one person to access the P2P "server" at a time? I always thought it was a fly your desktop so only one at a time can get in or on. That is why I thinking Hamachi. Can you tell me more about your Hamachi experiences??? Thanks to all....
Paul

It is a pentium 1000MHz machine, so loading AC is slow. I am not sure what the bandwidth for hamachi is. It seemed to be much slower loading AC and an initial file than on our internal network.

I did not get a chance to try hamachi (as apposed to Logmein) on a faster machine and see if that made a difference or it was a bandwidth problem with hamachi.

Logmein can only allow one person at a time on a particular computer. I will sometimes log into 2 or 3 computers simultaneously simply by connecting to them in different windows then work with all three. This is often how I update AC.

Because you are taking over the desktop, you really cannot have 2 competing persons running it simultaneously. Logmein will just shut out the oldest logged in person in favor of the new log in.

Hamachi is a separate program from Logmein, I think it was bought by them and they promised to keep it free, but have a paid version that is faster and allows more people in your "network" I have been fine with the free version. It creates a VPN like tunnel that you can access shared files.

Logmein is more of a remote desktop program. The pro version allows printing and file moving but otherwise is similar to the free version.

The company also has backup and IT programs too. I have used the backup program but not the IT products enough to comment on them. I actually like the backup program but cobian/hamachi is free and I like that better.

Wendell,
Thanks again. I will probably start messing with all of this when I get back next week some time. Until then....
"Let's Go Rangers!!!"

Yes, this is a bit more complicated an issue. For me to be able to help, I'd have to know a lot more about your total IT setup/environment. Uhm ... not gonna try that here...

BUT, I will say that if Nancy needs to access the desktop of one computer and you need to access the desktop of another computer, remotely, this isn't as hard, but will require a bit more knowledge than "gosh, I clicked on it and it just worked" If your setup is just this simple, then all you need to understand is how to set up port forwards in your 'router' and modify your remote access application so that it will connect to the right port number on said router.

This is much easier to see than to talk about in text.

--

I guess I am completely missing something here. First RDP to different machines via port forwarding is probably not going to be the simplest solution. Granted, I RWW to any machine and RDP to the server and use port forwarding to RDP to my desktop. But, Paul seems to be making this harder than it is. Again, unless I don't understand his problem.

IF, two or three people were trying to RDP or LogMeIn into the same PC, that would not be possible. But, can not everyone access AC when they are IN the office. In other words, the bilelr can access the database from her PC, and Paul and Nancy can access it from each of their respective PCs. So, why can the biller not use LogMeIn at home to connect to her computer and run AC while Paul uses LogMeIn from his computer at home to log into his computer at the office. And, I am guessing Nancy has her own laptop at home?

I am sure this will probably make Paul happy, but I officially signing off helping with anymore remote efforts by Paul UNTIL he goes to www.logmein.com and sets up at least two free accounts, one for his biller and one for himself to see how it would work. If this is not a viable solution, then I will be more than happy to help with RWW if he has SBS or RDP or VPN either software or whatever.

I use logmein.com - the free version quite a bit. It is a bit slower than real time, but you could fiddle with screen resolutions, etc. and help that. I actually opened accounts on 2 of my office computers - 1 the server and 1 the practic manager's computer (wife) - that way she can log on to hers from home even if I am logged on from another computer to the server. Granted my speed might be a little different since I use fiber optic at my office, but the internet from my home is a rather slow DSL. At least give it a try before you try to set up your own VPN or RWW.

Paul,

I don't use LogMeIn, I used RDP (Remote Desktop) along with Remote Web Workplace. But, I still have LogMeIn there, because it's free.

Personally, I think (and this is just my thought), you are way overthinking this. I looked at Hamachi and wasn't all that enamored by it.

If you can answer one question, I will go away (although I have said that before, right). Why is there an issue with multiple users?

Can't your biller get to billing when she is in the office from PC A to Server?
Can't Nancy get to charts in the office from PC B to Server?
Can't you get to office manager stuff in the office from PC C to Server?

ALL AT THE SAME TIME?

If the answer is yes, and it would have to be, then why would LogMeIn be any different.

Biller LogsMeIn to PC A and then gets to Server
Nancy LogsMeIn to PC B and then gets to Server
Paul LogsMeIn to PC C and then gets to Server.

Try it, it should work. Then, tell me why you want VPN.

Guys,
The issue is if and when we use the new billing lady see may "never" be on site at all and she does not have her own dedicated machine here. She would be a private contractor working from her own home office on her own machine. But I want to own and control the data and the database she is building with us. Much like Roy and our concerns about whether or not we own the program our charts are in, we want to own the program our billing and other PM stuff is in and for the same exact reasons. It is my wife who in three years from now who is going to get audited and will need to be able to answer for her bills and charting, not some software or billing company. Also we want to be able to see in real time what is going on, who has deductables left, we can record the copays at time of service so the biller can see and incorporate what we have been doing here on site, and many other similar types of things. So no the billing lady can not remotely fly her own computer because the only computer she will have is her own computer out of her own office off-site on the other side of town (next county north actually).

Two: The computer Nancy would be using from home would most likely be her here in office laptop taken home to do homework, so again can can't really fly her own machine remotely. If and when I finally buy a new computer for the home, I want my kids to be able to use it for their homework and stuff and not to have to worry about Nancy and the kids fighting over computer time. So again I was hoping Nancy could simply bring her laptop back and forth and connect to a small network I would create at home.

I'm really trying to not have to purchase a whole extra fleet of computers just so folks can access stuff remotely. That seems really over kill to me... If I understand you correctly, then I would need a matching machine here in the office for each and every remote accessing computer. And all the clients are for the moment wireless, so I think that between the remote connection and all the other things in the way things might get pretty slow except for the one person logged on to the main P2P server which is hardwired to the router. This why the whole VPN type thing seemed to make the most sense. Am I making this clear enough now??? Or am I missing something here myself???

I'm just not in the mood to try and find some new network "guru" who sets up some funky system that we are forever dependent on him anytime things get a little weird. All the local network gurus seem to like to make themselves permentent fixtures in your life all while not setting things up secure enough either; screw that noise. That is why we are P2P instead of server too. This I can do without spending months here every night learning a major new set of tech skills, get it?

Perhaps I am trying to get too much while putting out too little but I thought it was worth a shot. But by having some sort of a VPN like thing directly to the actual P2P server I thought I could allow 2-3 people to securely access and build a single database on our system that we own and control so we can always have access to it when we need it or want it. Can I have my cake and eat it too???

Paul,

With all due respect, I think you are missing something. I am not suggesting purchasing other computers just for remote login. I guess the concept I need to get across is while it may be optimal to all log in to the "Main computer," since it would be faster, why not have everyone log into client computers and then access the database on the main computer from there. I think you are misunderstanding me about the computers because I keep using the analogy of what happens at work.

At work, everyone uses a computer and accesses the main computer. No one uses the main computer. Even if they did, you certainly don't have more than one person on that computer.

So, it's the same concept. Just as you can't have three people using the main computer at work, you also can't have three people accessing the main computer remotely (as you have stated). So, why not have the remote users access the same computers they would normally access.

Example: I do not have AC program on my server. I do not tend to do ANYTHING on my server. I do not remote into my server. I could, but I don't. And, likewise, I don't run AC on the server when I am physically at work. But, I DO remotely connect to MY desktop at work and use AC just as if I were there.

I wouldn't look at it like it would be faster if you remotely connected to the main computer than a client. Sure, it would. But, you don't think like that when you are at work. You don't tell your employees, "hey let's all line up and take turns to use the server." Sure, each user would be able to work faster, but they would have to wait for each other as you outlined earlier in your example. So, they each use their own computer and access the database, which is what networking is all about.

So, just for fun and CCHITs and giggles, go to three separate computers and install LogMeIn free edition on each. Name one biller, one office manager and one doctor. Then let all of you log in anytime you wish. If it works, great.

Hope this helps.

Bert

Paul:

With the full version of LogMeIn, (which is not free, but is inexpensive) version, the biller can work from home on her computer, you don't have to buy her another computer.

She can either use the software in your clinic, from her computer (but she better have a fast connection). OR...

She can transfer billing files from your computer to her computer, do her thing, and then return the updated file to your computer (depending on what billing program you use).

She can print from her computer to your printer, or from your computer to her printer.

You can invite her on for a mini-meeting, like GoToMeeting.

It does all kinds of cool stuff. You need to get the free program, and it lets you try the Pro version free for a month, I think.

You need to try it out.

Depending on how well you trust your biller to have the capability of moving files from your "server."

Guys,
Here is the thing: I was hoping to take 2 of the 3 macnines home as the remote computers so again is logmein doing a remote desktop thing? Those two machines (laptops) are the only real clients around here. If so then is it not that only one person can be on any one machine remotely at a time? This would effectively leave us with no clients at the office for anyone to log on to in the first place, only the "sever" that we path to for reading and writing the AC datafiles would be left behind to log on to. Get it?

So again is that not now leaving only room for one person and their remote machine to logmein at a time? We are a real cheap, shoe string budget operation around here. With our cheap@$$ carriers and Medicare fee schedule we better be if we care to keep our doors open too much longer. Just ask Vinny. He and Nancy are almost Identical in professional history and we are on about the same rediculous Upstate NY fees too.

So again I'm hoping to find a way to allow multiple remote users to securely, easily and reasonably quickly (speed of use wise, open a chart, update the note, not loose one's connection and so on) to remotely access AC and a PM program from off-site as though they were here on-site with their paths set to AC to read and write to those 5 wonderful folders while running the actual program on the machine in front of them for speed and so on.... Does that make sense?

Is that asking for too much? Shouldn't Hamachi or a real network hardware based VPN be able to do this? Are we destined to have another self important, bloated network "guru" come in here and set-up some VPN that I can't KISS ala Lerker's advice and my own philosophy??? AAAHHHHH!!!!!!

I guess you never understood just how few computers we have here. One Tower for the P2P server, and then 2 laptops as the clients access AC via that P2P. That's it!!! No more to be had for the moment. So those two laptops would be coming home with us to be the remote computers off-site.... We do have Nancy's fragile (very fragile it is like a golden false god idle around here) old laptop that have our old Chartware charting on it for our first EMR archive. That machine will never see duty for almost anything.... Sorry for driving you crazy, being a cheap SOB (I have little choice in the matter right now) and thanks for your help none the less.... Be good.
Paul

Paul,

Sorry for the confusion. I guess I didn't realize you were taking computers home. Do you not have computers at home, which can log into the computers at work?

However, if you are really dead set on logging into the "Main Computer" at work, you will need to use terminal services. Not only that, you will need to do some configuring to allow more than one connection. I believe it will allow three. Please see the following article. If you follow it verbatim, you should have no problem. That is, if you know how to set up Remote Desktop, which is fairly straightforward. If you need help let me know.

http://riccardo.raneri.it/blog/eng/index.php/2006/04/24/windows-xp-multiuser-remote-desktop/

Paul,

If you have a HOME computer, you don't need to bring ANYTHING from the office. LOGMEIN runs on the HOME computer and accesses your OFFICE computer through the internet.

AC runs on the OFFICE computer, the HOME computer screen mirrors the OFFICE desktop.

Any cheap desktop or laptop with decent internet connection would do.

A VPN like Hamachi runs AC on the HOME computer and accesses the database on the OFFICE computer. Works, but SLOOOOW to load.

At home I usually use a MAC and LOGMEIN. I use the free version. If I need a file from the office, I email it to myself and open at home.

Ditto. I wonder if Paul is just trying to do something we don't understand. Paul, if this is so, how about start from scratch and tell us exactly what you are trying to accomplish, how you are trying to accomplish it and maybe why you would want to do it differently than what billl just described.

Bert and Bill,
Yeah now you see my problem. No we don't have any computers at home exept the laptops which can travel back and forth. Nancy's which really is but an overgrown terminal for AC ususally stays here at the office most nights, while mine that also has our QuickBooks on comes home every night to reduce the possiblity of theft and sometime I do some bookkeeping from home. I actually took the home computer years ago as the main tower that is our P2P server here at the office. Pretty sad right?

But we live in a free market where we providers can tell those punie helpless insurance carriers where to stick it and demand ever unfair increasing payments from them, right? (Note tongue deep in cheek) We can't even afford an extra couple of computers so we can leave one or two at home for fun and homework, both for our kids no less for Mom and Dad. Now that is BullCCHIT.

I wonder what my BC/BS provider reps bonus is for the coming year? At times I think I should very intentionally switch sides in this business. It is where all the money is, right? I can take a hint. If you can't beat 'em; join 'em???

Ya know back when Nancy was with her old big nasty group practice down in Bingo, at least she could simply throw a few charts in her bag on a weekend to tighten up her charting. Look at all this garbage we need to know, set-up and pay for just to let a doc tighten up a few charts at night. The uncompensated part of the business.

I'm going to try and digest the article Bert linked me to and take it from there. Hopefully my eyes won't glaze over like a deer in the headlights. Thanks for sticking with me you guys....
Paul

Paul:

I will admit up front that I have no idea what you're trying to accomplish, and I am just throwing things out in an attempt to be helpful. Here is my bow-legged wisdom on the subject:

It seems like you are saying that having a home network is cost-prohibitive.

My home computer is a refurbished eMachine from TigerDirect.com. Right now, $299.00 gets you an Intel Pentium-D 925 3.0GHz, 1GB of DDR2, with a 250GB hard drive!

Now, add a minimal DSL charge (well, it's cheap in Arkansas), and FREE LogMeIn, and you're working from home!

Now, if you and Nancy both want to work from home, just add a crummy little LinkSys wireless router (like mine) from Wal-mart, which costs about $40.00, and you can bring that laptop home (I assume it has a wireless card), and you and Nancy can both be logged on from home and doing your thing.

Now, $1.00 is not cheap if you don't have $1.00, but it's just not that expensive to have LogMeIn-style access from home.

Paul,

Depending on how functional you are with computers, you can set up a computer for $50-$100. It may be worthwhile talking to the IT guys at the hospital for they may either be able to help you or often hospitals have old units they will sell cheaply. Remember you need not only the computer but monitor,keyboard and mouse. Everyone is ditching CRT monitors for flat screens. They are dirt cheap but not worth paying shipping. If you can find a monitor locally it's worth it.

You should not have to lug the computers back and forth. I have AC running perfectly well on a 500 mHz machine in the lab area I picked up for $50. I can remotely log into that computer with Logmein and work from there.

Logmein takes a minimal amount of technical expertise. But from your posts above, you really need at least a permanent computer at home.

Completely agreed. Having to take computers home just to be able to remotely connect back to work seems inherently backward. And, I don't mean that in a mean spirited way.

Wendell:

What OS are you running on those moldy oldie PC's? I have a couple I could press into service!

fyi ... If your remote session seemed to be running slow, I'd be inclined to blame the internet connection (but I couldn't know for certain without more info). Not all internet connections are created equal.

--

Actually I always thought simply packing up laptops to take home and not buying extra reduntant computers to have to maintain and keep current with anti-virus licenses (although recently we now get three for the price of one, but that is fairly new) was a pretty smart thing to do. Saving time and money, and time frequently is money now isn't it and something none of us seems to be able to have enough of, right??? So as much as I will probably buy a new computer for the home for digital pictures, kids educational games, and general family use, I am in no hurry to add an additional 2-3 computers here and at home just for this needed service. There must be a simplier and better way.

On that idea. Many of the newer network attached storage units have a share program that is password protected for people to share family photos and other data perhaps between home and office. I know very little about this but the new HP Home Server unit, some of the worldbooks, buffalo's and even the Netgear NAT seem to have this. What does anyone know about it other than the company line on their websites? Is this share safe and if so how safe? Is it anything more than password protected? Is it encripted as well? Would my router's firewall and internet security package provide enough protection from unsavory types? Thanks much...

Paul:

AdAware Home (for adware) and AVG Free Edition (for viruses) are both free.


Why do you need two or three additional computers at work and at home?

Brian,
Because we bought laptops for the purpose of pulling double duty, both here and at home. But if we follow the group think here and use a single access solution such as remote access or logmein, then we will need extra computers to always be here on the network for each and every person who might need to access the system at the same time to individually log on and play remotely with their machine.

You see remote access can only allow one person at a time per computer to get in and on the system. With such a solution there needs to be a one to one relationship, one computer at the office to log on to for every person who might want to access the system "at the same time". Where as with some form of a VPN then multiple users can access the one main computer left behind at the office, set up to pull server duty, and all at the same time.

So.... One machine for every possible similtanious off-site user -vs- one computer on-site that can service multiple users from off-site, all at the same time.... Get it?

Last thought and Idea on the subject. Recently MS has released a new OS called "Home Server" and HP and a few lesser knowns have released devices that are sort of not just NAS but they are not full blown servers with server software either. They sit somewhere in the middle, some what towards a home users, pro-sumer, as we used to say in my old business. These seems to have a means of setting up access and passwords via the net to selected people to access or share stuff on your server, network. These seems to work in some what the same way that some of the NAS are allowing such access. Now would these allow multiple users at the same time and how secure is their means for sharing???

Is it me or does this feel like we are just going around and around on this one? Thanks again to one and all....
Paul

OK, let me start this again.
I recommended that you use logmein from home to connect to the office for informatiion after hours. From a prior post, I got the impression that you did not have an internet connected computer at home, and logmein requires an internet connected computer.
Although logmein does only connect 1 person to one computer, you can create more than 1 account and connect to different computers. But then, you need 2 computers at home and 2 at work. My earlier comments were based on your statement about limited number of computer.
Taking the laptops home works. It's perhaps more wear and tear on them, but that is what they are for, to be portable.
NO MORE WILL BE SAID ON THIS ISSUE
I have been playing with a demo of MS Home Server. It is a stripped down verson of Server 2003 with backup software built in. You can remotely log in, but then, you can do that with VPN or other means discussed earlier. What I haven't checked out is how many of the server features are still active. They do show up on the administrative screen.

Wendell,
I was thinking about the Home Sever because our main tower is getting a bit long in the tooth. It was big and strong back when I built it in May of 2003, but now.... So I was thinking about taking the client's traffic off of it with some form of NAS so things don't slow down here too much if I'm in the back with 3-4 apps open on this old tower. So the idea of like $750 for a baby server, with multiple drives, set-up in some form of RAID, like RAID 1 for saftey seemed appealing. All without having to buy lots of MS cals and licenses, nor would I have another learning curve while I learned real server based stuff. The HP home server thing is actually cheaper than the Netgear NAS that seems to be the top of it's heap right now.

But the MS website is less than specific about things, with no screen shots or anything. Also I'm concerned and now there are hints on the MS website that perhaps such things do need their own form of internet security and virus protection, yet there are no vendors who have designed any yet, no less do any of us know how good or bad they perform if they were there. I want to know more about how I will interface with and run this puppy. I know it's browser based, but how easy or good is it? Can you add a monitor and keyboard to it and work it more directly for better direct access to it? Will it allow me to solve my multiple in from the outside issue much like a real server? The specs really aren't there when you try and look.

Anyway, I'd love to hear more about your experience with it if you have anything interesting to share. Thanks much.
Paul

Paul,
You might want to consider some things before going w/ RAID 1.

Exerpted from Wickipedia for you, a few things...

RAID 1: Mirrored set without parity. Provides fault tolerance from disk errors and single disk failure. Increased read performance occurs when using a multi-threaded operating system that supports split seeks, very small performance reduction when writing. Array continues to operate so long as at least one drive is functioning.

RAID 5: Striped set with distributed parity. Distributed parity requires all but one drive to be present to operate; drive failure requires replacement, but the array is not destroyed by a single drive failure. Upon drive failure, any subsequent reads can be calculated from the distributed parity such that the drive failure is masked from the end user. The array will have data loss in the event of a second drive failure and is vulnerable until the data that was on the failed drive is rebuilt onto a replacement drive.

RAID 1+0 (otherwise known as RAID "Ten"): mirrored sets in a striped set (minimum 4 disks; even number of disks) provides fault tolerance and improved performance but increases complexity. The key difference from RAID 0+1 is that RAID 1+0 creates a striped set from a series of mirrored drives. In a failed disk situation RAID 1+0 performs better because all the remaining disks continue to be used. The array can sustain multiple drive losses as long as no two drives lost comprise a single pair of one mirror.

Bert uses RAID 5. I am using RAID 10 (1+0).

These types of RAID provide a more robust redundancy environment that RAID 1. Most people will not use RAID 1, rather the most common array is RAID 5.

Adam,
Thanks. That is the clearest explaination of RAID 10 I have ever read or seen. Now that makes sense to me whether or not I go with which ever system of final choice.

BTW, you two are such cheaters making really short and silly posts just to get your numbers up. Almost all of mine were gotten the old fashioned way, I earned them..... lol
Thanks again,
Paul

Paul, I hope that information was helpful to you. Came straight off Wikipedia, so I can't take credit for the thought behind the words.

You know something since you tend to write really long elloquent passages, you could break them up into pieces. One entry could be 5 and you surpass Bert in no time!

That's what Donna said. And, Paul, you will have to get Adam (in a PM) to tell you the story of the RAID10 deadline with the HP rep on the phone. Of course, then he went with RAID5 only to install RAID10 behind my back. It was very sneaky.